Consultancy, Investigations Officer, Investigations Section, Office of Internal Audit and Investigations (OIAI) New York or remote Req# 584124

About UNICEF

If you are a committed, creative professional and are passionate about making a lasting difference for children, the world's leading children's rights organization would like to hear from you. For 70 years, UNICEF has been working on the ground in 190 countries and territories to promote children's survival, protection and development. The world's largest provider of vaccines fordeveloping countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF has over 12,000 staff in more than 145 countries.

Consultancy Title: Consultancy, Investigation Officer

Division/Duty Station: OIAI

Duration: 01 November 2025 – 30 October 2026

Home/ Office Based: OIAI New York, HQ or remote 

 

BACKGROUND

Purpose of Activity/ Assignment:

The Office of Internal Audit and Investigations (OIAI) is an independent office reporting to UNICEF’s Executive Director and the Executive Board. The Investigations Section investigates reports of misconduct involving UNICEF staff and other personnel, including fraud, corruption, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation and abuse, workplace harassment, and other failures to observe regulations, rules, administrative issuances and standards of conduct. OIAI also investigates alleged wrongdoing including fraud and other financial irregularities, as well as sexual exploitation and abuse, committed by third parties including institutional contractors and implementing partners.

Within the Investigations Section, the Strategy, Intake and Analysis Unit (SIA) is responsible for overall management of the hotline for reporting allegations and for conducting initial assessments of reports of misconduct and wrongdoing. SIA is also responsible for certain policy and strategic initiatives; quality assurance of investigation and other reports; and internal and external reporting of certain investigations-related data. Investigations teams based in New York,  Budapest and Nairobi are responsible for conducting investigations and certain initial assessments.

The consultant will support the work of the Investigations Section by conducting initial assessments and investigations, as appropriate.

This consultancy assignment requires fluency in French in addition to English

Scope of Work:

Under the supervision of the Chief of SIA, the consultant will be required to:

• Independently conduct initial assessments, including by:
  • Obtaining relevant information from UNICEF systems and offices;
  • Conducting witness interviews, where necessary and appropriate;
  • Reviewing and analyzing available evidence to formulate recommendations regarding case disposition;
  • Preparing high quality written outputs, including notes-for-the-record, referral memoranda, and reports, for management’s review;
• Upon request, and under the guidance of the relevant Investigations team lead/Chief, conduct -- and support other investigators in conducting -- investigations, including by:
  • Preparing and contributing to the preparation of investigation plans;
  • Coordinating the investigation with investigations colleagues, including the relevant Chief of Investigations;
  • Obtaining and analyzing relevant evidence;
  • Conducting witness and subject interviews, where appropriate;
  • Conducting investigative field missions, where appropriate;
  • Drafting investigation and closure reports.

This consultancy assignment requires fluency in French, including the ability to conduct assessments and investigations in French.

Terms of Reference / Key Deliverables:

Work Assignment Overview/Deliverables and Outputs/Delivery deadline

1. Conduct case assessments and support and conduct investigations.
2. Ensure case files are maintained, organized and updated with relevant communications and evidence.
3. Complete assessment, referral and case  completion reports and communications

- 12 Monthly case assessments,  investigation reports and other requested memoranda are submitted, including:

1. Relevant information and evidence from UNICEF systems, offices and witnesses obtained in support of case assessments and investigations, as appropriate, in accordance with OIAI processes and procedures.
2. Case files are managed and updated, with relevant files organized in a structured f